Amazon Calling: An Educational Wake-up

In the 21st century, talent abides.Those with talent – be they individuals, cities, regions, states and nations – win.Detroit Free Press business writer John Gallagher’s recent headline says it all: Amazon to Detroit: You didn’t have enough talent to get HQ2 (Amazon’s second world headquarters).Good-bye billions in investment and jobs.

It is apparent that Michigan needs a comprehensive wake up call for an educational and workforce development overhaul – a plan driven by the reality of the 21st century that includes best practices and our global workforce, not ideology and politics.This is the mandate for competition in the 21st century.

In the seeming blink of an eye, we have entered a world that we once considered science fiction – now reality.It is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to fundamentally rethink how we solve humankind’s problems.If technology is changing the way we work, education needs to figure out how to combine the human touch with technology in ways that benefit us as individuals and as societies.

Humans have problems with change:

The only human that truly likes change is an infant

To be honest, social constructs are not easy to change and the adjustments to change that are coming at warp speed can and will tear society apart.Raising uncomfortable issues is important if we are to begin thinking about—and plan for—ways to manage the transition from the old to the new.Pretending to fix your back-end security system will not keep hackers out.I recall my dad telling me, “With time and money, we can fix anything.It is when you run out of either that major problems arise.”

I happen to believe that our system of public education is at a critical juncture and that, ready or not, disruptive change is on the horizon.Will we lead, react, or be swamped by the change coming our way?

The demographic population of Michigan’s school-age children (from pre-school to pre-adult university) is in decline.Pressures – from blended to e-learning, charter and schools of choice, profit-based universities, career certification, budget pressures, and homeschooling.How will these affect K-12, community colleges, universities, and other brick and mortar schools – public and private – in the years to come?

Ladywood and Utica could be seen as canaries in the proverbial coal mine, calling for a sea change that will shake the very foundations of our historic educational system.Leaders must act.We have witnessed the consequences of allowing problems to fester (think GM and Detroit).It’s time for a comprehensive plan to address the supply and demand of a quality education from the cradle to the grave.

One Approach

Western Michigan University, as an example, is responding to these real pressures by putting more focus on attracting out-of-state students.In 2016-17, students coming from other states made up about 9 percent of Western Michigan’s undergraduate population.WMU’s goal is to get that figure to 30 percent.To that end, this year WMU slashed its out-of-state tuition from over $27,000 a year to under $15,000.

WMU’s Associate Provost for Enrollment Management Terrence Curran told MLive, “For us to grow, we have got to improve the number of out-of-state students at this institution.That’s the only option.There is no way we’re going to be able to grow with the demographics in Michigan.”

This prediction should not stand unchallenged.How do we make education affordable and accessible to all within the borders of Michigan?Increased state support for community colleges and state universities would go a long way to helping address the educational attainment crisis in Michigan.

Should we, as a matter of state policy, aggressively market Michigan’s K-12, community colleges and universities globally?Even now we have unused and empty K-12 school buildings deteriorating across the state due to demographic shifts, school choice, charter options and e-learning initiatives.Can buildings be filled with foreign students or students from Ohio?Where is the demand to properly finance education in Michigan?

It seems that we need a bi-partisan focus on making higher education affordable again, ensuring degree completion and attainment of other post-secondary credentials—essential for providing a pathway to success for individuals and our state.This will take courage, leadership, AND a plan.

With new technology and online learning models, why require multiple bricks and mortar campuses (K-12-higher education) across the state? As the 21st century unfolds strategies are needed to manage this inevitable transition.

How do we sustain communities dependent on educational institutions’ brick-and-mortar buildings in light of digital, artificial intelligence and changing demographic realities?How do we plan to adequately fund these institutions – IS there a plan?Or will they just wither away.

Does our governance model for local school boards, state board of education, community colleges and universities fit a 21st-century knowledge economy?Should that governance model be seamless from pre-K to community college?Henry Ford College and Dearborn Schools operate under this model.

Educational Investment

To be clear, these questions are not raised with any animus towards current public investment in public education.I believe we are under-investing in preparing Michigan’s people for the change that is emerging. The question is not IF we should invest in the education of our citizens, but HOW and WHEN?

I am very aware of Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli’s quote when I raise these issues: “It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system or new order of things.For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”

Pretending that social and technology trends are not coming to our educational system at the speed of light is pure folly.We need leaders to help chart a clear mandate to act decisively and re-invent the core of today’s strategic, operational, and organizational approaches to education.They must be willing to explore the creation of new educational models for the 21st century.

Opportunity is knocking to get bright minds thinking about the disruptive change that is coming.Change may be inevitable, but with forethought and leadership, progress does not have to be optional.This is but one issue keeping me up at night.If you think about it, it may keep you awake as well.

Hello out there:Is there someone willing to take the lead in re-imagining Michigan’s educational system?

Tom Watkins has served as Michigan’s state superintendent of public instruction from 2001-2005, special assistant to the president of Wayne State University president and CEO of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County. He is a business, health and educational consultant in the U.S. and China. He can be emailed at: tdwatkins88@gmail.com, or followed on twitter at:@tdwatkins88